I had been in the Northwoods for a weekend with some girlfriends and headed back on Sunday afternoon for two sessions at Hoyt Park. I was excited there was snow on the ground for the photos! (The only time I am EVER excited for snow! Haha!) Little did we know that it would actually be snowing even more that weekend and I was debating if it was safe for the families to meet me! The Northwoods had almost a foot that week. Anyways, we kept the sessions scheduled and rolled with it. The kids were all troopers and we caught some cool photos with the snow falling. All worth it! It was perfect.

I love it when I book new clients who learn of me through family and friends. A referral is the best compliment ever. So thank you to all who have done this. It is VERY much appreciated!

I had the privilege to photograph this family in their gorgeous home! They had this beautiful, tall tree with the most elegant and fun decorations. The girls were polite and sweet and the four of them are just stunning! SO much fun.

{Pewaukee Waukesha indoor home session Christmas children family photographer}

This family is so good to me. They have been on my photography journey since the beginning. I have loved watching their family grow! We had a fall session for them, as well as celebrating Baby M turning 1! What a big girl! We had our session in a friend's backyard. They recently had a fall party and had a ton of cool hay bales and pumpkins out. Thank you G family for having us over! It was perfect.

Sessions can pretty much be held anywhere. I worry about lighting sometimes, but you work with it. You find areas that are shaded and shoot from there.

Congratulations to the Stanley family for winning the drawing for a complimentary photo session with Joyful Photography by Jinnee! The awesome giveaway was through The Lake Country Mom's Facebook site: www.facebook.com/TheLakeCountryMom. She posts events and local information daily on her Facebook page. Check her out!

The Stanley family is new to the Lake Country area. It was a pleasure meeting their family and capturing the joy they have in their interactions together. They are a sweet family. Welcome to the area! I hope you guys are enjoying it here so far!

So this mom and I went to college together...we were roomies, in each other's weddings, and had babies around the same time. We now live about 10 minutes from each other, so it's neat to live close to friends from college. They sure know you better than most people, that's for sure!!!

Through the busyness of life and the changes and stages we all go through, friendships are special. True friends take you as you are, through all your life stages. And even if it's been months since you've talked, the connection is still there. Let's face it- we don't stay the same. And THANK GOD for that! I am certainly not the same person that I was 10 years ago...let alone even 2 years ago. I'm always growing...

I had many more mini sessions after the first few weekends. The rest of the sessions were not at the fall mini session price that I advertised. I may only do two designated fall mini session dates next fall with the special price. I was BUSY! So blessed by all the people we allowed me to spend that time with their families!

On this particular day, I had one The Mini and one I Want It All (which is an hour long). I picked the Retzer Nature Center because they offer acres of beautiful land. There are many cool little pockets of spots to take photos. It was a blast with these two sweet families.

The R family was mom and her two daughters. The girls are the sweetest of the sweetest. Love.

This next family, who did the I Want It All package, got a ton of photos- almost 50. My hour with them was amaaazing. The kids were spontaneous and giggly and the parents were laid-back and easy going. I just LOVE that. So easy to shoot a session like this one.

So I got my own family of 5 together for a photo shoot. I need a picture for our Christmas card, too! I tell ya, it's WAY harder getting your own clan to focus during a session. :) My kids have learned to "ignore" me when I'm taking photos of them, but when we need to stay fairly still for a tripod, it was asking a lot of my little ones. HA. My husband has a blast, said the wife sarcastically! I just adore the last shot of my three kiddos laughing. That one is a keeper <3

We had another great day of nice weather! The sun peeked out for a little bit and we wrapped up in time because it started to rain! These families are beautiful!!! It's hard to get comfortable in front of the camera, I get it. We get those genuine smiles and laughs by being goofy and having a fun time. Sometimes I capture the dads with the biggest smiles! ;)

You've heard photographers say, "Don't get your photos printed at Walgreens, Walmart, Target, etc...Visit the link below to see what a photographer did when she took some of her prints to these places. It makes a HUGE difference where you get your photos printed.

I recommend www.mpix.com to my clients. If they need to get prints immediately, I suggest Costco. I've heard some photographers say that Sam's Club is decent, too. If you want the quality that the photographer gives you, please take the advice and do not go to one of these drugstores. PLEASE. I use a pro-lab for the prints that I include in packages. It's a crazy difference.

Day two: Very excited that the weather was cooperating! I used a farm location in Pewaukee...Farmer Joe happily gave me permission to use his land. He has beautiful trees and colorful fall leaves all over the place! Not to mention a cool, old barn, too.

These families were awesome. I haven't had the opportunity to photograph many older children, so this was a great experience. I'm used to wiggly, wild little ones! Posing older children is different. I could tell them how to pose and where to go and guess what....they actually listened!!! LOL!